Optical telescopes benefit from precision hyperboloids Hyperboloids are generally used in optical telescope systems where good off-axis performance is an important requirement. Optical Surfaces supplied hyperboloids have been at the heart of many deep space and earth observation satellit...

The eyepiece that you use in your telescope determines what magnification or power that you can see. Eyepieces are usually described by their "focal lengths". A 4mm eyepiece is an example of a very short focal length, and will deliver high power. A 40mm eyepiece is a long focal length, an...

Orion Funscope / Celestron Firstscope review/comparison David Fuller from "Eyes on the Sky" compares and contrasts the Orion Funscope and the Celestron Firstscope and with the eyepieces and accessories included with each....

Kowa Pure Fluorite Crystal Flagship Model with a Large 88mm Diameter Lens The flagship of Kowa spotting scopes with an extremely large 88mm objective lens. The enthusiasm behind Kowas 60 years of spotting scope development is manifested in this supreme model. Its optical performance and user fri...

Collimating a telescope is lining up its optical components (lenses, mirrors, prisms, eyepieces) in their proper positions. This should be accurately done, or else the image quality will suffer. Different telescope types, like Newtonian, Schmidt-Cassegrain, or refractors all need good coll...

A Fresnel lens is a type of lens developed by French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel for lighthouses; a similar design had previously been proposed by Buffon and Condorcet as a way to make large burning lenses. Read more

SkyFi is our patent-pending WiFi-to-Serial adapter, designed for wireless telescope control. If you have a computer-controlled GoTo telescope, SkyFi can use the WiFi capabilities built into your Mac, PC, iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch to point your telescope in the sky. SkyFi now includes both USB...

A Dew Shield is a hollow plastic, plastic/foam, or aluminium cylinder that slides onto the front of your scope. It has the advantage of blocking stray light (e.g. from your neighbour's porch light) and adding weight to the front of the scope which helps balance heavy items mounted on the scope's rear...

Telescope could have magnified sun, igniting house fire Before you set up your telescope for the next star-gazing opportunity, you might want to make sure you have a fire extinguisher nearby. Fire investigators in Carefree now suspect a house fire Monday night was ignited by the sun reflected and...

Laser Guide Star at VLT to shine brighter light on stars It does not twinkle, a rare characteristic for a star. It appears suddenly over the southern hemisphere, a new neighbour in the crowded black sky. But this "star" is not a real one. Created by a powerful laser beam, it can be made to shi...

Make Your Own Simple Spectroscope Would you like to see the colour in white light? It is quite easy to create a simple spectroscope using inexpensive items that can be found around your house. Read more

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